Old Acquaintances (Murdoch + Nel)

[Murdoch]

He hid a smirk when she looked away from him, but just barely. Gods, but she was easy to screw with. Or perhaps he was just oh-so-good at playing the idiot. Either one was fine by him, because it kept her underestimating him, and that was always something that worked to his advantage.

Human. Right. He wasn't born yesterday. Had only seen one or two other Konti in his long years, and though he'd no idea what exactly they were, he knew what they looked like. Could identify most of the non-humans on sight, at least the ones who'd ever come through Syliras. Not because he was a scholar, but because that was the sort of information he could sell, and sometimes to just those people Nel was trying to avoid. Money was money, after all, and he didn't know any of them. Or rather, didn't know them well enough to manipulate.

He let the silence stretch a little longer as they turned a few more corners, his ambling steps never really hurried. "Like I said, you probably won't have anything to worry about," he shrugged. For one, because he wouldn't be selling her location to any slavers unless she proved useless to him. And for two, well. So long as she was useful, it was doubtful anyone would be dragging her out of his city without a fight.

They finally wound up on a street lined with identical buildings, what was obviously a sort of residential area for bachelors and such. He trudged around to the back alley of one and then up two flights of extraordinarily creaky stairs until he reached the top floor. Shoved a key in the lock, then pushed open the door to reveal his home-sweet-home.

It was fairly small, only one room about twenty feet square, with a bed taking up one corner and a table and chair by the meager hearth. For all that it was small, it was impeccable clean and organized, everything in its place. There was a small shelf beside the bed that looked to have been cobbled together by hand out of discarded bits of wood, and on it lay a few of the worthless baubles he'd stolen over the years. A flaking leather ring, a little bouquet of dried flowers, at least a dozen little bits of trash that weren't worth a copper miza between them all, but likely had some value to Murdoch.

"There's a well down in the courtyard if you wanna haul up some water for a bath," he said, pointing at the small bucket that likely served as something to hunch over while you sponged yourself off. "You got a blanket in your pack?" he asked, eying her curiously.

[Nel Sayo]

Nel wasn't very worldly, despite having spent the past half a decade at sea. She'd never seen anyone who looked like her, and Sy had only had a cursory knowledge of Konti and what they did and did not do, what they were and were not like, who they were and who they could be. She'd heard of Mura, but only by name, and if she'd known more about it she may have gone there first. Though it was hard to say. She felt no affinity for her own people, save that she knew being one could get her dumped back on the auction block.

So she bought it completely. And maybe she surprised him when she said, "Look, I'm not human. So. Just try not to stare too much."

No threats with regard to whether he would or would not try to bag and tag her. That was up to him, and she'd made this deal with him, and was standing in his home, so couldn't take it back now.

She slung her bag down by her feet and fished a blanket out of its depths, holding it up for him to see.

"Don't need a bath right now, thanks."

One step at a time. His quarters were bigger than the bunk on the ship she was used to, so if she wasn't impressed, she wasn't uncomfortable there either. After a moment, she just dropped the blanket on the floor and sat down atop it, crossing her legs beneath her, and started take off her gloves.

Climbing over the back of the first hand she bared was a pattern of shimmering, iridescent scales that caught lamplight, reflecting pale, pale gray. Like she'd been plaited with silver.

[Murdoch]

The lamplight that streamed through the small window caught those delicate scales and sent reflections skittering around the room, and he stared down at them a moment in surprise. Well, that was interesting.

He left her to whatever she was doing and crossed over to the hearth, poking at the banked coals he'd scooted to the back of it before he'd left that evening, and within a few minutes he had a merrily crackling fire. The golden light danced over Nel's scales and left the ceiling a whirlwind of sparkling stars with each shivering movement of her hand. When he realized that, he chuckled and padded across the room to untie the fraying piece of black cloth that served as a curtain.

"So," he said, finally breaking the silence as he slouched down into the chair by the table, leaving her enough room to get comfortable without him crowding her. "If you're not human, what are you?" Besides different and therefore valuable.

[Nel Sayo]

The second glove came off, tossing more shine into the room.

And then she started unbuttoning the long-sleeved shirt she wore, revealing a more comfortable sleeveless one beneath it, and those scaled crawled across her collar bone, disappearing over her shoulder. There was a mark on the side of throat, as well, which was not a scale. And which had been smartly hidden by the spiked collar of the shirt.

She shrugged, even as she shrugged the shirt off her arms.

"Konti," she said, like it really didn't matter. And went on, as the firelight kissed the scales lighting up her arms, and she folded the shirt. "But whatever. I'm not...I mean, I just am, but I just look like one. I'm just me. So."

Well, this was uncomfortable. She'd never been in a cramped room with a man other than Syon, and Sy -- for all his blustering and whore-bedding and merriness, had never laid a hand on her. She reached into her pack and fished out something wrapped in linens, and then set it on the floor between them, and nudged it towards him.

"Have some, you want."

Inside was a bottle of pear brandy.

[Murdoch]

"Ah," he said, nodding as if the word Konti cleared everything up. She likely knew more about them than he did - couldn't have really named Mura if she'd asked, didn't know what made them special other than just being not-human. Although he did know how much he could fetch for a pretty one at her age.

But he was past that for now, just slumped forward in the chair to lean elbows on his knees, the collar of his own shirt sliding down to reveal the first of many scars that criss-crossed his chest, this one a bit closer to his throat than he'd liked. Price of the life, he'd have explained if anyone'd been dumb enough to ask.

"Where'd you get this?" he asked incredulously, his grin blossoming again as he began prying the cork off the bottle.

[Nel Sayo]

"Sy," she said, and that at last conjured another smile. Which vanished in a flash, and she looked from the bottle to him and said swiftly, "I can't..."

She waggled her fingers at him, like she was casting a spell.

"...do any of that mumbojumbo, okay, so don't ask me what the future holds. I don't know. It's your life, not mine. Just...so you know."

And then her shoulders slumped a bit more comfortably, and her attention shifted to the bottle again.

"We nicked it off a ship a few years ago, and Sy let me have a sip but then he hid it away. I picked it up the other day, but...I dunno, I always thought I'd share it with someone, so...that someone could be you, you want."

Another smile, hesitant, barely there, but it lent her features an almost ethereal shift.

[Murdoch]

It was only a long life of practice that kept his jaw from dropping when she mentioned seeing the future, wait, Konti could see the future? Nope, just a blink, and that was probably just surprise at hearing she couldn't do it, yes, that was it. And then he gave a gracious little nod as if to say It's no difference to me, I wasn't planning on asking anyway, how rude would that be?

"I think I'd very much like that," he chuckled, the usually gregarious smile pulling back into something warmer, more friendly, making him look just a bit more trustworthy to a girl lost and alone. Nothing untoward, no, he wasn't nearly good enough to try anything outrageous. Would probably get him slapped or stabbed (or worse, all promises aside) if he tried any of his usual lines on her, but he could turn a smile at least.

"Here," he said, passing the opened bottle back to her, the cork rolling between the fingers of his other hand. "First sip to you, and a hearty welcome to the city of Sylrias, little swan," he chuckled.

((OOC: Seduction 5/100)

[Nel Sayo]

She shifted a little uncomfortably when she saw him blink at her; only Captain Rezar had ever asked her, directly, what the future might hold, and she'd been miserable for weeks because she had no answer for him. If Konti were supposed to know that kind of thing, well...maybe she was a dud. And she hated that almost as much as she hated not being human, because it meant she just couldn't do anything right, or be right, or just be...whatever she was supposed to be.

When he smiled, though, that was all it took. Nel wasn't stupid, but she was a trusting sort of person by nature, and she liked people, and liked being friends with people, and so when he smiled, she smiled. It was just that easy.

She took the bottle and up-ended it for a swig. Not a long one, but a gulp, because she hadn't much of a constitution for alcohol, or really drugs of any kind -- that was Sy's fault, too. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she swallowed, she passed the bottle back.

"Thanks," she murmured, earnestly. For letting her stay, and not stabbing her, or stealing the brandy she was perfectly willing to share, or not selling her to any slavers...yet. Thanks. Until then. "I like your digs. Could use like a painting or something though, you know?"

[Murdoch]

His grin tilted crooked once more as he took back the bottle and took his own swig, a bit longer then hers, and then sighed happily at the sweet taste of it.

"Yeah, well, can't exactly fit a painting under my shirt, can I? Besides, you start bringing expensive stuff in here and people get the diea to test the locks. Better just to leave it as-is. And... you're welcome," he chuckled, a phrase he was even less used to saying than thank you, because he rarely did anything for anyone.

He took one more gulp and then passed the bottle back to her, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. "Much though I'm enjoying your company, I do have to actually earn a living," he said with a devious quirks of his lips. "You'll be all right here for a while? I should be back before dawn, so if you want to get some sleep in the bed I can wake you up when I get back. Up to you," he said with an uncaring shrug, honestly unconcerned with wherever she laid her head until he got back.

[Nel Sayo]

"Yeah, I'm good," she assured him.

She took the bottle back and recorked it, wrapping it up in the linen again for safe-keeping, and stuffing it back into her pack. Stuff was precious. One had to wonder if she'd just...sip and sip and then never take that last sip, like maybe Sy would just reappear in time to finish it off for her.

Once that was done, she just kind of sat there.

"I'll behave," she promised, nodding. A clatter of seashells through her hair with the movement. "Go...filch people of their most prized possessions."

The smile on her mouth bladed into a grin, for just a second.